BUTTERFLY
Butterfly is the delicate story of an Italian teenager who sees her life plan collapse in eight minutes.
Raised in one of Naples’ most troubled neighborhoods, Irma focuses on boxing and reaches the Olympics at just 18 years old. Her dramatic defeat there shakes the core of her identity while family tensions, economic strain, and unrealistic dreams complicate her return home. She struggles to reconnect until a new opportunity forces her to decide who she really is.
This is a real-life story, but its irresistible protagonist and cinematic storytelling style allow Butterfly to be experienced like a fiction film. There are no set up interviews, instead, the directors waited to capture authentic moments that naturally unfold scene after scene.
Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman are an Italian-American directing team working together since 2015. They have co-directed another feature length film “The Things We Keep” that came out in France in 2017. “Butterfly”, their second feature, won Italy’s prestigious Golden Globe for Best Documentary Film in June 2019.
Butterfly | Alessandro Cassigoli, Casey Kauffman | Italy | 2018 | 80 min
trailer
awards
- 2019 | Globi d'Oro | Best Documentary
Q & A WITH FILM'S LEAD
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IRMA TESTA
The Italian women’s boxing team is one of the strongest ones in Europe and their top talent is Irma Testa.
Born on 28th December, 1997, Irma began boxing in 2010 following in the footsteps of her older sister, before a successful 2012 saw her claim victory in the Italian Women’s Junior National Championships, and win a bronze medal at the 2012 EUBC European Women’s Junior Continental Championships.
From there on Irma has gone from strength to strength winning numerous awards on the world’s boxing circuit for women.
VARYA MIKHAYLOVA
Varya Mikhailova, a human rights activist, co-author of the YouTube channel Feminists Explain.
“In our human rights world there is a lot of sad news, documents and disputes and very few reasons for joy. Side by Side for me is about this: the happiness of solidarity, which conquers despair for at least a few days of the festival."
SCHEDULE
screening
19.11.2019 | Tuesday
20.30
Hotel Vedensky Hotel, 37 Bolshoy Prospect
350 | 300* Rubles
*Discounted rates for students, pensioners and people with physical disabilities (with documentation).
Access for physically challenged persons.
